The US Chess School is a nonprofit venture, the mission of
which is to help the most talented young American chessplayers by organizing
free week-long training sessions with top grandmaster coaches. Three sessions
are held every year; locations, trainers, students, and age groups vary. The
ninth incarnation took place at the Marshall Chess Club in NYC, July 8-12,
2009. The students were aged 9-12 and rated between 1850 and 2100; GM Alex
Onischuk and IM Greg Shahade taught. This program was made possible through the
generous sponsorship of Jim Roberts, in conjunction with the AF4C, the hard
work of organizer Greg Shahade, and the kind hospitality of the Marshall Chess
Club.

It's a truism that looking at your games, especially your
losses, is the best way to improve. At past US Chess Schools, students have
been asked to bring an annotated game to share with the group. This time, Greg
had students play a training game against each other on the first day, and we
used these games, rather than older ones, for group analysis.

IM Greg Shahade

Greg debuted as a
USCS instructor by leading most of these lessons, and I recreate two of them
below. My notes are not comprehensive (I couldn't write that fast), but I tried
to show what I enjoyed most about the discussions: Greg's emphasis on
comprehensible, memorable ideas rather than long lines of analysis.

He,Tommy - Wu,Christopher [B92]US Chess School

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3
d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6

Basic Najdorf starting position

The Najdorf is a very popular opening for black. White has an "unbelievable" number of choices here. Greg asked the class to name some of the more common moves and to describe the plans associated with them.
1. 6. Be2 This move is less tactical than the others. After 6.... e6, white usually continues Be3, 0-0, f4, Qe1/d2, Bf3, Rad1.
2. 6. Be3 A more aggressive move. One popular set-up is the English Attack: white continues f3, Qd2, 0-0-0, with the idea of attacking with g4-g5, h4-h5, and eventually g6.
3. 6. Bc4 Bobby Fischer's favorite: the Sozin. The bishop attacks f7 and later e6. One idea for white here is that after some typical moves like 6...e6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Be3 Nbd7, he/she can play a standard piece sacrifice: 9. Bxe6 fxe6 10. Nxe6 Qb6/a5 11. Nxg7. The knight generally comes back to f5. White already has three pawns for the piece and a strong medium-term attack on black's king.
4. 6. Bg5 This leads to a very famous line called the Poisoned Pawn: 6... e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2.
5. 6. f4 American Grandmaster Josh Friedel plays this move. Most games continue 6... e5 7. Nf3.
6. 6. g3. A more positional line: white intends Bg2 and 0-0.
7. 6. h3. This move has become popular recently, and it's a more aggressive way to fianchetto: the idea is g4 and Bg2.
8. 6. a4 This positional move gains space on the queenside and makes it hard for black to play ....b5.
9. 6. Qf3 was recently played by Nigel Short against the 15 year old Swedish GM Nils Grandelius. Greg comments on the game in a video here.
10. 6. Rg1. This move, invented by GM Alex Shabalov, was new to the class. They had seen all the previous moves, but when Greg insisted they were missing one important variation, it took them at least 10 ridiculous guesses (6. b3? 6. Rb1? 6. Qd3?) before they lucked onto this move. Its idea is the brutal g4-g5.6.Be2 e5
7.Nb3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Be3 Be6 Greg: If White plays 10. Nd5, can Black
take on e4?
Answer: White has a typical trick: 11. Bb6 and 12. Nc7,
winning the exchange. (Interestingly, Fritz thinks Black has compensation
(a central pawn and time) for the material--EV)
10.Bf3 b5 10...Nbd711.a3 "I have a general feeling
in the Sicilian that if you play a3, it's not so good for you." Greg
[11.a4! b4 12.Nd5 Bxd5 13.exd5 a5 14.c4] 11...Nbd7 12.g3
"If you
wanted to play g3, you should have done it right away, with the bishop still on
f1." Alex 12...Rc8 13.Bg2 Nb6 Greg: What's the idea of
...Nb6?
Answer: Nc4
14.Nd2 Qc7 15.h3 Rfd8 16.f4 d5

Position after 16...d5

Greg: What are some reasons why this move might make a lot of sense for Black?
Answer:
1. Because Black's development is better.
2. Black's rook on d8 opposes the white queen on d1.
3. Because of where white's bishop (e3) and knight (c3) are. (Black threatens the fork ...d4)
4. It increases the scope of the Be7. 17.fxe5 Nc4?
An interesting idea that doesn't work tactically. Instead Black should have played 17...d4! 18.exf6 dxe3 19.fxe7 Rxd2 or 17...Bc5 18.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 19.Kh1 Nxe4.
18.Nxc4?
White should simply take: 18.exf6! Nxe3 19.fxe7 Nxd1 20.exd8Q+ Rxd8
21.Raxd1 Qxg3 (21...d4 22.Nd5 Qxc2 23.Nf3 Bxd5 24.exd5 Qxb2 25.Nxd4) 22.Rf3
Qg6 (22...Qe5 23.exd5 Bxd5? 24.Rd3+-) 23.Nb3± With two pieces and a rook
for the queen, White is doing well here.18...dxc4 19.Qf3 Qxe5Greg: What's the best piece to put in front of an isolated pawn?
class: a knight
Greg: Chris played Qxe5 very quickly. What else could he have considered?
class: ...Nd7 and ....Nxe5
Greg: Right. Maybe this is not better, the centralized queen looks strong, and after 19...Nd7, black needs to wonder if 20. Nd5 is dangerous, but it definitely needs to be considered.20.Kh1 Nh5 21.Bf4 Nxf4 22.gxf4 Qc5 23.Qg3

Position after 23.Qg3

Greg: What is White threatening here?
Answer: f5-f6
Greg: Black chose a good, multi-purpose move Bd7, which removes the bishop from
the threatened attack and prepares to reroute it to c6. But what else could he
have done? 23...Bd7 Answer: 23...Rd2! solving the problem in the
most active, tactical way 24.f5? Bd6 25.Qh4 (or 25.e5 Bxe5 26.Qg5 hitting the
rook and threatening fxe6 26...Bxc3 27.bxc3 now White's f pawn is pinned across
the fifth rank and Black can choose between 27...Rxc2 and(27...Rcd8) )
25...Qe5 forcing White to give up material on f4 to avoid checkmate.
24.Rae1
Qh5 25.Rd1 Qh4 26.Qf3
26.Qxh4!? Bxh4 27.Kh226...Bc6 27.Qe3 Ba8 28.Qb6
Rxd1

Position after 28.Rxd1

29.Nxd1?
29.Rxd1 Qxf4 30.Qxa629...Bxe4
We stopped looking at the game here-Chris is clearly winning and
the game was played very quickly from this point on. Chiang,Jonathan - Williams,Justus [B76]US Chess School

Greg: What would be a
normal idea for Black here?
A student suggests the standard plan of Rc8
and Ne4-c5, and Greg agrees, but points out that this is not as good here because White hasn't spent two tempi on Bc4-b3. 10...Nxd4
11.Bxd4 Qa5 12.Kb1 Rfc8 13.h4 Be6 14.a3Greg: What's a possible
problem with this move?
Answer: It invites b5-b4.
14...b5 15.Nxb5 Qd8
16.h5 a6 17.Nc3 Rab8 Greg: What's the idea behind this move?
Answer: Qa5xa3
18.Ka1Greg:What's the idea of Ka1?
Answer: To clear the b1
square for a defending rook.
18...Rc7 19.h6?!

Position after 19.h6

Greg: Why is this
probably the wrong idea?
Answer: It keeps the h-file closed.
19...Bh8 20.g5
Ne8 21.Bxh8 Kxh8 22.Qd4+ Kg8 23.f4
23.Bxa6! looks scary because it opens
another file, but it prevents the very dangerous ...Rcb7 and Ra7 is not
possible because the White queen guards that square.23...Rcb7 24.Rb1 Qa5Greg:
What is Black threatening here?
Answer: Let's say White plays 25. f5, for example. It
seemed at first that 25... Rxb2 was winning after 26. Rxb2 Qxa3+ 27. Na2 Bxa2.
But White has an incredible resource here (something Justus had seen during the
game!). White wins with 28. Qg7+!! Nxg7 29. Rxb8 Ne8 30. Rxe8#. So Black has to
play 25...Rb4 first. If the queen moves, Rxb2 works, so White has to take on
b4, take on e6, and hope to survive. White's best moves here are Nd5 or Bc4.
25.Na2

Alex Onischuk's curriculum included lessons on perseverance,
bishop vs. knight endgames, open vs. closed positions, and the two bishops. (I
am sorry to only have notes on one game: my own summer school teaching job kept
me away each day until the afternoons, so I missed the majority of these substantial
lessons.)

GM Alexander Onischuk teaches the group, Photo Elizabeth Vicary

Eljanov-Karjakin was one of my favorites: a great example of how to
think in closed positions.

Alex started with the simple question,
"Who is better here?" At first, a few students preferred Black. Then
someone pointed out that White could play g4-g5, after which Black is stuck:
there are no pawn breaks, no sacrifices, nothing at all to do. (...h7-h6 only
opens the h-file, since White can reply h3-h4) In Onischuk's words "If I
play g4-g5, how could I possibly lose?" So the class agreed that White
could not be worse, and so was at least equal and probably better. The next
question was what to do? Their ideas:
1. Attack on the kingside. The move
g4-g5, Alex explained, while completely safe, also reduces White's winning
chances. It's better to keep the pawn on g4 and just push h5. This way you can
open two files (g and h, rather than just the h).
2. Someone suggested White
might play Qe2, preparing a bishop sacrifice on b5, and Onischuk agreed that
this could be dangerous.
3. White could also try activating the dark bishop
with Be1-h4. Alex wasn't as excited about this plan, because he felt the Bg7 is
an equally terrible piece.
24.Ne5
Onischuk asked the class "Black will
take this knight; it is too good of a piece not to. Should he capture with the
knight or bishop?" Eleven students quickly decided Black should take with
the bishop. Just one opts for the knight, and Onischuk joked with the last
hold-out, "I know, I know, bishops are always better than knights, but
maybe in this position...."
If White takes, 24.gxf5 Black should
recapture 24...gxf5! when he can put his king on h8 and use the g file,(and
not 24...exf5?! because of 25.Kh2 with the idea of Rg1 and h4-h5,
when Black's g pawn becomes a target.
White can't play 24.h4 yet
because of 24...Nef6 so he starts with 24. Ne5. White should have some mixed
feelings about Ne5: he would prefer not to trade off this last knight, because
it could be very useful in helping the attack to break through, on the other
hand, when Black captures, White controls the f6 square with a pawn.24...Bxe5
Onischuk: Which pawn should White recapture with?25.dxe5 A student
suggests an idea for White: Rd1, Qe2, and e4, trying to use pressure against
the Nd7 to open the position. [If 25.fxe5 then Black could play ...Ng7,
...fxe4, and trade rooks. Because White has more space and is attacking, trades
will ease the pressure on Black.]
25...Ng7 26.Qg2Alex: "So White
can open the kingside: h4-h5 is coming. What could Black do about that?"
The first hand up was Justus Williams, who suggested Black should run:
"Kf7, Rfh8, Rag8, and Ke8." Onischuk agreed, but points out that the
earlier plan of Qe2 and Bxb5 will be very strong with the Black king on e8 and
the rooks on the kingside, where they will be unable to fight White's advancing
queenside pawns. 26...Kf7 27.Kf2 Ke8 28.Ke2 Kd8

Position after 28...Kd8

Onischuk: This is a very
important moment. What should White do? 29.gxf5!
White captures now,
before Black can defend with ...Rb8
29...exf5
After 29...gxf5 Black's
position is really unpleasant; the knights are clumsy and have nowhere to go. White
can slowly build up on the kingside with Rg1, maybe play Qf3, double rooks on
the g-file, and activate the bishop with Be1. Black has no counterplay.
After
29...Nxf5 Onischuk originally suggested the plan of Rh1, Rg1, and h4, trying to
win the g6 pawn. A student then asked about 30. e4, and the group slowly
figured out the following variation: 30.e4 Ng7 31.exd5 exd5 32.Bxb5 cxb5
33.Qxd5 Rc8 34.c6 Qe6 35.Qxe6 Nxe6 36.cxd7 Kxd7 and Black is fine, the group
decided.
I enjoyed seeing the analytical process at work: there were many false
starts and corrections made in the course of arriving at this line, but
everyone seemed to participate in finding the problems and fixing them. For
example, Kayden suggested an improvement: 34. Rcd1 Ke8 35. Qb7, and Alex agreed
("yeah, dangerous"), although wondered if 34... Qe6!? might be ok for
Black. Someone else then pointed out that the entire line could be prepared
earlier-- that after 30... Ng7, White can play Rd1 and Black can't really stop
the sacrifice on b5.30.Bxb5 cxb5 31.Qxd5 Rc8 32.c6 Qe6 33.Qxd7+ Qxd7
34.cxd7 Kxd7 35.Rfd1+ Ke7 36.Bd4 Ne6
36...Ke6? 37.Bc5 Rfd8 38.Rxd8 Rxd8
39.Bd6 and Rd737.Bc5+ Nxc5

Position after 37...Nxc5

Alex asked if White should recapture with
the rook or pawn. After some discussion, the group agreed that both are pretty
good. 38.bxc5Black has two weaknesses here: h7 and b5.38...Rc7
39.Rd5
39.Rd6 is also good; the idea is to play c6 and then bring the king
to d5.39...Rb8 40.Rb1 Ke6 41.Rd6+ Ke7 42.Rb6 Rbc8 43.R1xb5 Rxc5 44.Rxc5
Rxc5 45.Rb7+ Kf8 46.Kd3 h5 47.Kd4 Rc6 48.Ra7 Rc1 49.e6 Re1 50.Ke5 1-0

Every US Chess School features a blitz tournament, and this
one was massive: a 16-player round robin that lasted over three hours.

In
addition to the 12 regular students (Luke's older brother Carl substituted for
Joshua Colas, who had a prior engagement), two local guest students (James Black
and Miguel Garcia) played, plus each player had two byes: one for a personal
evaluation with Alex Onischuk and the other for an interview with me.